Evidence mounts against man charged with Dominique Devlin's murder in day one of testimony

COURTHOUSE — A combination of emotional and shocking testimony emerged from day one of the case of the Commonwealth v. Brendan Pierce, the young man charged with fatally shooting 16-year old Dominique Devlin on July 19, 2011 in downtown Norristown.

Assistant District Attorney Nathan Schadler held up a bleach-stained shirt and baseball cap — allegedly belonging to the defendant — before a jury of nine women and three men Wednesday.

Schadler said Pierce used a makeshift bottle of bleach to clean the crime scene after he allegedly shot and killed Devlin out of retaliation in the area of Green and Basin streets that hot summer night a year ago.

Assistant District Attorney Colleen McIntyre, also prosecuting the case, appeared to have captivated the jury’s attention with her opening arguments.

“’You know that (expletive) Dom set me up. That (expletive) has got to pay,’” said McIntyre, mimicking what witnesses told police during their initial investigation. McIntyre said Devlin was part of a group plot to rob Pierce, her ex-boyfriend at the time.

“The defendant learned quickly that she had a hand in the situation. She was 16 and making bad decisions.”

Twenty-year-old Pierce, then 18 at the time of the incident, was escorted into court appearing clean-shaven, wearing a white, button-down shirt and tie. He appeared emotionless and impassive during day one of the proceedings. The prosecution has charged him with first - , second- and third-degree murder, illegal possession of a firearm and related offenses.

Members of both the Pierce and Devlin families were in attendance Wednesday, but with starkly different demeanors. Several friends of Pierce were forced to leave the courtroom after court deputies caught them either snickering or using their cellphones during witness testimony.

Among the physical evidence found at the crime scene were a Deer Park water bottle filled with bleach, a semiautomatic handgun, an Adidas T-shirt and track pants, DNA in the alley where witnesses say the pair rendezvoused and Pierce’s fingerprints on a nearby car.

Richard Tompkins, Pierce’s defense attorney, argued that the Commonwealth’s witnesses, including several neighbors home at the time of the shooting, could not possibly have clearly seen what they thought they had seen.

Tompkins said the neighbors were talking amongst themselves and tending to their children, and with poor lighting conditions and a high, long hedge that ran along one witnesses’ property, they could not have accurately seen Devlin go into an alleyway with Pierce. Moments later, the neighbors heard several gunshots “pierce the night” — in Schadler’s words.

The Commonwealth got to call their first witnesses Wednesday morning. Among them was Stephanie Bolger, a Montgomery County native but current resident of Philadelphia. Bolger said she was visiting a friend living on the corner of Green and Basin streets when she heard “three or four” gunshots ring out.

“I didn’t react until I heard somebody scream,” said an emotional Bolger.

“I saw somebody running down the alleyway. I chased her until I saw her lying on the ground in the middle of the street. She started (clutching) her neck. She started shaking real bad and her eyes started flickering.”

Devlin died before she reached the hospital that night.

Jerome Purdy, a lifelong friend of Devlin’s told the jury the victim was “like a sister to me.”

“She was lovely, caring, nice, drop-dead gorgeous and a sweet girl.”

Purdy testified he was with Devlin about an hour before she was murdered.

“She said she was going to meet B.P.,” said Purdy, citing the nickname Pierce had around town.

Purdy testified that immediately after he learned Devlin had been shot, he called Pierce to inform him. He said Pierce acted shocked, surprised and taken off guard.

“Don’t tell me that she checked,” Purdy said that Pierce said. “Checked” is street slang for “checked out,” or killed.

As day one came to a close, the prosecution called Montgomery County Det. Edward Schikel, who testified he was called in the middle of the night to rush to the crime scene to analyze it. As daylight broke the following morning, Schikel said a wealth of evidence came to light, including a pair of ladies brown sandals, a cell phone, a pack of cigarettes and the above-mentioned bleach-stained items.

In addition to the defense’s opening arguments, testimony continues Thursday before the Hon. Thomas C. Branca in what is expected to be a two-week jury trial.